Hazardous Winter Weather Closes Capitol
When Monday's weather forecast confirmed earlier predictions of widespread freezing temperatures and precipitation through Thursday, leaders in both the House and Senate announced they would suspend business beginning that afternoon. Affected activity has been rescheduled, with normal operations expected to resume next week.
Senate Finance Committee Meets Before Shutdown
Because of the winter storm, the Senate Finance Committee canceled its Tuesday and Wednesday hearings. On Monday, the committee heard testimony on the 2024-25 budgets for general government agencies, including the Texas Historical Commission, the Employees Retirement System and the Commission on State Emergency Communications. Also, Comptroller Glenn Hegar testified on the 2024-25 biennial revenue estimate, the general revenue transfer to the state Economic Stabilization Fund (also known as the rainy day fund) and the funding included in Senate Bill 1 for his agency.
At Monday's hearing, the committee's chair, Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), mentioned that the panel might need to meet on Saturday if it were unable to reconvene this week.
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